Assimilation has been happening throughout history, and is continuing in modern times. The peoples being assimilated resist, yet there are a number of advantages to assimilation. It reduces internal conflicts, facilitates understanding, communications and enhances trust.

At the same time, however, it is understandable that people do not want their cultures to be taken over, since this represents their identity and background.

I ask this question knowing that globalization is accelerating, and that assimilation will take place or resistance to it may drive us to wars and possibly extinction.

I believe assimilation is necessary for a united earth/world peace final destination. Humanity needs to be under one culture to be justified to expand across the stars. It should never be forced though and this mega-culture should be one collective humanity not, say, the Anglo-Saxon culture or the Chinese culture. Old cultures and traditions should not be erased and those who practice them should not be forced otherwise.

Assimilation happens naturally overtime so I don't find the point in resisting it. Take in the US for example. loads of people are worried that the American Southwest will rebecome Mexico with all the influx of Hispanic immigrants. Myself and others of my generation, who were born in the states, are more Americanized than our parents. Lots don't even speak Spanish! They love baseball, speak fluent English, celebrate 4th of July and Thanksgiving, and follow other American traditions.

Time is the key and people need to be patient. Culture is something important but can be changed, and I believe, will be changed as the future progresses.

I believe assimilation is necessary for a united earth/world peace final destination. Humanity needs to be under one culture to be justified to expand across the stars. It should never be forced though and this mega-culture should be one collective humanity not, say, the Anglo-Saxon culture or the Chinese culture. Old cultures and traditions should not be erased and those who practice them should not be forced otherwise.

Assimilation happens naturally overtime so I don't find the point in resisting it. Take in the US for example. loads of people are worried that the American Southwest will rebecome Mexico with all the influx of Hispanic immigrants. Myself and others of my generation, who were born in the states, are more Americanized than our parents. Lots don't even speak Spanish! They love baseball, speak fluent English, celebrate 4th of July and Thanksgiving, and follow other American traditions.

Time is the key and people need to be patient. Culture is something important but can be changed, and I believe, will be changed as the future progresses.

I agree that assimilation can happen naturally and should not be forced, but we have to consider political influences and the nature of humans to compete. It is natural for people to favor their culture above others, and governments use this to promote themselves and motivate their citizens.

As it stands, I foresee globalization as a vector made up of six major forces. The first being the English speaking world which is led by America, and is resulting in Americanization shaping globalization to a certain extent. Other cultures around the world have resisted this, to the point that the US became very unpopular in Asia until the rise of China, which is the second force in the vector, and is very different from the English force, to the point that it opposes it. However, the rise of China made other countries in the region such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam re-strengthen their ties with the US, as a preferable influence. So, the pull of China in the opposite direction has also resulted in minor forces assisting the English force.

The third most influential force in the vector is Latin America, where feelings of frustration with American influence is causing favoritism for China. However, the cultures between Latin America and The English force are similar, while Chinese culture is very different. Chinese will to assimilate is very strong, so it is very likely that cultural clashes will result from Latin American and Chinese interactions in the coming years, which will very likely result in further strengthening to the English force, but, of course, this and the other Asian assistance will alter English as you've already mentioned.

Then there are the European countries, along with the Middle East. We know that the Middle Eastern cultures are very conservative, meaning that they will resist assimilation most. Africa seems to be favoring the Chinese force, and it will be interesting to observe how these two cultures influence one another.

The question is whether or not these vector forces will merge into a single force in one direction peacefully, or whether or not there will be a war.

There is another aspect that I would like to add, and it is based on a post from another thread which explained the assimilation of France as it went from 30 cultures into one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diviacus

Before the French Revolution, there were nearly 30 different « dialects », as shown on the map hereafter.

Within these, there was in fact mainly Romance languages (derived from the Vulgar Latin), some Germanic dialects (in the East), and 2 very different languages: Breton and Basque.

At the beginning of the revolution (1790), the government decided to translate all the texts of the National Assembly in each of these languages. But because of the cost and the lack of will to support the regional languages, the dialects were soon methodically attacked.In 1794, the Abbé Grégoire revealed that the official French language was exclusively spoken in 15 departments only (out of 83).Then the French revolution decided that the “official” French language should be the only spoken one, and used force to reach its goal.In fact, these repressive measures were inefficient, and the different dialects have been spoken till the middle of the 20th century (even if less and less). The most efficient measure to impose the French language has been in the end the television!

So to go back to your question, these languages (dialects) vanished recently for most of them. In the 1950’s they were still spoken by many old people in the country, and the regional customs were still much alive: special words, special cooking, special clothing,…

As an example, beginning of the 20th century, 50% of Bretons didn’t know how to speak French. Today, only 35 000 Bretons speak their language everyday.

As you said, these languages and customs blended in the French culture we see today.

The key aspect being that ultimately it was technology in the form of television which finally united the different languages. I believe technology will play a crucial role in globalization, but not by making us all speak the same language. I'm referring to global translators, which are becoming faster and more accurate all the time.

Quote:

It'll have language teachers the world over ripping up their vocab books: near-real-time speech conversion from one language to another has just become a reality. Microsoft Research has demonstrated not only how to convert spoken English into Mandarin with just a few seconds' delay - but also how to output that Mandarin speech in the vocal style of the original speaker. The technology was demonstrated by Microsoft's research chief Rick Rashid in Tjianjin, China, on 25 October - but the news has taken a while to trickle out.

In other words, I'm saying that globalization will not be a world united through one common language, although a lingua franca will exist. It will be a world united through technology that will allow us all to interact using our own languages while being heard/read by others in theirs. This will eventually influence people throughout the world, as the different ways of thinking along with global philosophies come together to form the global culture, which is already in its infancy.

This type of assimilation is what may prevent a destructive war from wiping out mankind, while allowing us to combine our efforts.

In terms of culture, China is going to assimilate with the English speaking nations because that is their ticket to become more competitive in the world, and as a matter of fact they continue to invade the Western markets with their goods and manufacturing products with Western branded names which starts from garments to appliances, although they are also exporting their own brands but these are mostly sent to the developing nations like the Southeast Asian nations which includes the Philippines.

Latin America and Europe shall also assimilate with the English speaking nations for sure, though countries like the U.K. and Argentina shall have their continuous issue over Falkland Islands. However, in regard to their love for music, alcoholic drinks and fashion, they can share notes on them.

Right Jake, the most conservative of them all is the Middle Eastern culture, and while the Israeli-Arab relationship remains unsettled, there will be a continuing conflict over them, but, the result is always predictable.

If I may add, however, there is the Russian influence over the world and they're the dark horse who are just waiting for the right moment to arise once again.

In terms of culture, China is going to assimilate with the English speaking nations because that is their ticket to become more competitive in the world, and as a matter of fact they continue to invade the Western markets with their goods and manufacturing products with Western branded names which starts from garments to appliances, although they are also exporting their own brands but these are mostly sent to the developing nations like the Southeast Asian nations which includes the Philippines.

Latin America and Europe shall also assimilate with the English speaking nations for sure, though countries like the U.K. and Argentina shall have their continuous issue over Falkland Islands. However, in regard to their love for music, alcoholic drinks and fashion, they can share notes on them.

Right Jake, the most conservative of them all is the Middle Eastern culture, and while the Israeli-Arab relationship remains unsettled, there will be a continuing conflict over them, but, the result is always predictable.

If I may add, however, there is the Russian influence over the world and they're the dark horse who are just waiting for the right moment to arise once again.

While Russia has a great deal of natural resources, making them a significant economic power in the world, I don't see them having a great deal of cultural influence on other countries. I mean, how much soft power do the Russians have?

English speaking force: Will continue to be the dominant "world culture" with significant numbers of immigrants from the other forces assimilating into it, as well as a huge number who imitate its culture in their own homelands.

Chinese force: I feel the Chinese will attempt (and already are attempting) to assert themselves most heavily in the Third World. Countries full of people who feel that an Anglo-American English speaker dominated world has not benefited them. We are already seeing this in Africa and Latin America. However as you mentioned the Chinese are not the best at integrating others into their cultures. Over time this will hurt them.

The European force: Will in all likelihood continue to fall in line with the English speaking force. Indeed the two could be combined.

The Latin American force: This one is the biggest question mark for the coming decades. Latin Americans have already proved remarkably talented at assimilating into other cultures as well as bringing some of their own culture into other countries without too much negative backlash. I personally would love to see more interaction and a closer relationship between North and South America.

The Middle East: Mostly useless to everyone because they cannot stop the infighting and are unwilling to assimilate in most cases.

The African Force: Not so much a force as an opportunity. It looks hopeless now, but I have a feeling that whoever can gain a significant hegemony in Africa will find it quite valuable. Sadly that seems to be shifting towards China at the moment.

Also, I have to ask where does India fit into all this? Their population alone will make them a large factor on the world stage in the coming years.

English speaking force: Will continue to be the dominant "world culture" with significant numbers of immigrants from the other forces assimilating into it, as well as a huge number who imitate its culture in their own homelands.

Chinese force: I feel the Chinese will attempt (and already are attempting) to assert themselves most heavily in the Third World. Countries full of people who feel that an Anglo-American English speaker dominated world has not benefited them. We are already seeing this in Africa and Latin America. However as you mentioned the Chinese are not the best at integrating others into their cultures. Over time this will hurt them.

The European force: Will in all likelihood continue to fall in line with the English speaking force. Indeed the two could be combined.

The Latin American force: This one is the biggest question mark for the coming decades. Latin Americans have already proved remarkably talented at assimilating into other cultures as well as bringing some of their own culture into other countries without too much negative backlash. I personally would love to see more interaction and a closer relationship between North and South America.

The Middle East: Mostly useless to everyone because they cannot stop the infighting and are unwilling to assimilate in most cases.

The African Force: Not so much a force as an opportunity. It looks hopeless now, but I have a feeling that whoever can gain a significant hegemony in Africa will find it quite valuable. Sadly that seems to be shifting towards China at the moment.

Also, I have to ask where does India fit into all this? Their population alone will make them a large factor on the world stage in the coming years.

India could very well be an example of societies to come. They have over 30 official dialects as well as unofficial ones, yet English unites them all. Their education is conducted in English, and people from different regions doing business use English to communicate. India still needs to develop parts of the country, but as that happens competition between them and China will increase. I see them supporting the English cultural influence, since that would be to their benefit.